aisle

noun

ˈī(-ə)l 

1

a(1)

: a passage (as in a theater or railroad passenger car) separating sections of seats

(2)

: such a passage regarded as separating opposing parties in a legislature

supported by members on both sides of the aisle

(3)

: a point or line of usually political division or disagreement : divide entry 2 sense 2b

had friends from both sides of the political aisle

… a wartime period when menswear began its creep across the gender aisle …

—Melissa Singer

b

: a passage (as in a store or warehouse) for inside traffic

2

: the side of a church nave separated by piers from the nave proper

Phrases

walk down the aisle or less commonly go down the aisle

: to get married

Prenuptial agreements have long been used by couples who … before they walk down the aisle.

—Desa Philadelphia

Examples of aisle in a Sentence

The bride walked down the aisle to the altar.

By the end of the concert, the people in the theater were dancing in the aisles.

Recent Examples on the Web

The beloved seasonal snack has been around for several years—long enough for Trader Joe’s aficionados to put boundaries in place when employees stock the snack aisle—though some speculate the recipe has changed. —Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 17 Nov. 2025

In her speech, Shaheen said that Democrats should aim its ire at those on the other side of the aisle. —James Powel, USA Today, 16 Nov. 2025

Washington has failed the American people on both sides of the aisle. —Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 16 Nov. 2025

The standoff over those credits sparked the 43-day government shutdown, which finally ended this week when eight Democratic senators crossed the aisle and reached a deal with their Republican counterparts. —CBS News, 16 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ele, eill, ile, ilde "lateral division of a church on either side of the nave, usually divided from the nave by pillars," borrowed from Anglo-French ele, esle, aile, ile "wing, wing of a building, lateral division of a nave" (continental Old French ele "wing, wing of a building"), going back to Latin āla "wing" — more at ala

Note: The Middle English forms ile, ilde show assimilation to ile, ilde "island" (see isle entry 1)—the rows on either side of the nave perhaps being thought of as isolated from the rest of the church—and effectively supplant ele, eill, etc. in the sixteenth century. The d in ilde is a secondary extrusion (compare mold entry 3). In early Modern English ile competes orthographically with a variety of other spellings, as ayle/aile, which appears to have regressed to the sense "wing" and adopted the Middle French spelling aile, an etymologizing variant of earlier ele; and isle, which copies the spelling of isle entry 1. The now standard spelling aisle looks like a merger of aile and isle. Samuel Johnson enters aisle in his dictionary (1755) with some reluctance: "Thus the word is written by [Joseph] Addison, but perhaps improperly; since it seems deducible only from either aile, a wing, or allée, a path; and is therefore to be written aile." As Johnson was likely aware, aisle had developed a broadened sense "passage between pews in the middle of a church" that copies a now out-of-use sense of alley entry 1. The still broader extensions "passage between seats in a train, bus or airplane" and "space between rows of items in a department store or supermarket" first appeared in American English.

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing aisle

• on the aisle

Rhymes for aisle

• bile
• chyle
• file
• guile
• heil
• isle
• kyle
• mile
• pile
• rile
• smile
• stile

Kids Definition

aisle

noun

ˈī(ə)l 

1

: a passage between sections of seats (as in a church or theater)

2

: a passage between shelves (as in a store)